The invention relates to improvements in apparatus for manipulating rod-shaped articles, especially rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus which can be used in cigarette packing and like machines to gather blocks or arrays of rod shaped articles which are to be converted into packs by draping them into paper blanks, blanks of metallic foil and/or other types of blanks. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for removal and transport of layers of parallel rod-shaped articles which are dispensed from ducts of the type serving to ensure predictable discharge of layers of rod-shaped articles from the magazine of a packing machine.
Blocks or arrays of rod-shaped articles (e.g., filter cigarettes or plain cigarettes) which are to be draped into blanks in a packing machine and contain two or more layers of articles can be formed in a number of different ways. One mode of forming such blocks includes gathering all articles of a block in a duct and transferring a full block from the duct into a suitable receptacle for transport to the draping station. Another mode involves stepwise gathering of blocks in successive receptacles by delivering a first layer or articles into successive receptacles at a first station, by thereupon delivering second layers into successive partially filled receptacles at a second station, and so on, depending on the number of layers in a full block. The last mentioned mode is preferred at this time because it takes much less time to dispense a single layer than a full block, i.e., the output of the block gathering apparatus (and hence of the entire packing machine) can be increased by assembling each multi-layer block in a series of successive steps. Reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,235 to Erdmann and to published German patent application No. 33 12 976. The patent to Erdmann discloses a single expelling element which is reciprocable along its path and is provided with several prongs, one for each layer of a full block. The published German patent application discloses an apparatus wherein each layer is expelled from its duct by a discrete pusher.
Additional apparatus for assembling layers of rod-shaped articles into block-shaped arrays are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,471,866 and 4,503,967 to Erdmann et al.